ABOUT
The Precious Prints Project®
A tangible remembrance of the life of a child….
Loss and grief are overwhelming. The unimaginable loss of a child, whether sudden or through a long illness, results in the reliance on indelible memories. Often these memories are imprinted during a stay in a health care setting. The health care team desiring to provide comfort often feel helpless to do so.
The concept for the Precious Prints Project® originated as a result of an experience by a nurse witnessing a young mother leaving the hospital for the last time without her child without something tangible with which to validate her experience. The grief was palpable and this young mother broken. There were no words by others that could be of comfort.
Several weeks later, a chance encounter by that nurse with the owner of a company that creates silver pendants of fingerprint impressions resulted in a conversation and a vision: To form a partnership between the University of Tennessee (UT) College of Nursing Student Nurses’ Association, a vendor (Precious Metal Prints ™) and hospital nurses to create a bereavement program for families experiencing loss. Through the creation of a tangible keepsake provided at no cost to a family, the life of a child is remembered and honored. The Precious Prints Project® was launched in 2012 at an area Children’s Hospital and has since expanded to currently serve 9 hospitals and 2 additional university nursing programs.
Nursing students provide oversight, implementation and growth for the project. Through on-site educational sessions for staff nurses, details are provided about the project and how nurses can engage through print capture. This collaboration between students and nurses is invaluable as the nurses become the “hands” of the project. The print recipients remain unknown to the Precious Prints Project team.
In addition to teaching, students are also responsible for insuring the continued financial resources of the project in order to provide continued success. All prints are offered to families at no cost. Always. Students have creatively provided for funding through the annual 5K Sprint for the Prints, benefit events, and procuring private donations. This allows for continued kit availability to be distributed to partnering hospitals as needed and potential growth to include clinical additional partners.
To date, over 1200 families have received a print of their precious child. Such a simple idea given motion through purpose and enthusiasm. Receiving a print through the Precious Prints Project® does not take away the grief. But, perhaps, it may just provide a little comfort.